1. Field of the Invention
The use of enzyme labels for the determination of analytes in immunoassays has shown substantial promise and numerous immunoassays have been developed which are dependent upon the accurate measurement of enzymatic activity from an assay medium. One of the problems with this approach concerns factors which contribute to background values.
Background interference can be a serious factor in diminishing the quantitative character of the assay. In many situations, the background interference will vary from sample to sample and will be different in the analyte samples from the standards or calibrators which are employed to provide for translating the observed signal into the concentration of the analyte. In order to enhance the accuracy of the assay, it is desirable to diminish or completely remove the contribution of the background interference to the observed signal during the immunoassay.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Illustrative immunoassays employing enzymes as a label may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,837 and patents cited therein. Helman, et al., Clin. Chem. 20:1193 (1974) published the use of basic hydrogen peroxide for decolorizing hemolyzed and jaundiced serum samples. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,783, there is described a method for reducing fluorescent background in fluorescent immunoassays.